Press release

Asheville, NC – Asheville residents will converge downtown this afternoon to protest against the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline. The march, organized by Asheville based Katuah Earth First!, is part of a week of nationwide protests organized by Tar Sands Blockade, a group of Texas landowners and environmentalist fighting the southern leg of the pipeline.

“In a time of escalating drought, wildfires, and super-storms fueled by climate change it is suicidal to invest billions of dollars in new fossil fuel infrastructure. The Keystone XL pipeline would be delivering the
dirtiest fossil fuel imaginable, tar sands oil”, said Henry Lowry.

After a brief rally at Pritchard Park protestors carrying signs reading, “Obama, Your Pipedream is a Nightmare” and “TD Bank, divest from dirty oil” will march to TD Bank. TD Bank holds over 13 million shares in
Transcanada, the company building the Keystone XL pipeline. In addition TD Bank is heavily invested in Canada’s tar sands oil industry.

“We are going to hold accountable the companies that threaten our future with their dirty investments. With every dollar TD Bank invests in the Keystone XL pipeline we can feel the noose tightening around our necks,”
said Patty Petroluse, a student in Asheville.

If built, the pipeline would tear through thousands of miles of sensitive ecosystems, farmland, and Native American tribal lands in order to deliver Canadian tar sands oil to Gulf Coast refineries. Contrary to industry
claims, the vast majority of the oil would be destined for export, not for US consumption. Canada’s tar sands oil has been labeled by environmental groups as the “dirtiest project on earth.” Extraction of tar sands
requires massive strip mines that have already destroyed hundreds of square miles of Canada’s boreal forest. Tar sands oil production is extremely energy intensive and produces far more greenhouse gas emissions
than conventional oil.

The week of protest has seen protests in over 30 cities around the country and over 40 arrests as activists express their opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline. Katuah Earth First! is proud to contribute to the nationwide movement against new fossil fuels infrastructure.